Overview

• Acting FEMA Director David Richardson has not publicly led the agency’s Central Texas response, missing media engagements and site visits since early July.
• Texas deployed over 1,750 personnel to manage rescue and recovery, far outpacing the roughly 70 federal search and rescue workers sent by FEMA.
• Flash floods over the July 4 weekend killed at least 120 people in Central Texas, marking the deadliest inland flooding event in the state in nearly 50 years.
• President Trump and Secretary Noem are advancing plans to eliminate FEMA in its current form and transfer disaster response funding and responsibilities to states by November.
• Bipartisan lawmakers are drafting proposals to preserve FEMA as a cabinet-level agency as concerns grow about federal preparedness for escalating climate-driven disasters.